(Trinidad Express) Between 8.30 p.m on Saturday and 1 a.m. yesterday (Christmas Day), there were three murders, bringing the year’s murder toll to 346.
The figure includes the four people who died during an arson attack in Laventille last Tuesday.
On Saturday, Director of Public Prosecutions, Roger Gaspard, ordered that the 39-year-old arson suspect be charged with the murder of three children and one adult after he allegedly set fire to his apartment at Trou Macaque, Laventille, on Tuesday morning.
The fire spread to the top floor of the apartment building, resulting in two young children being burnt to death while a teenager and a grandmother were killed when they jumped out their five-storey apartment building in a desperate bid to escape the flames.
The latest spate of murders, however, is not related.
The first victim was Anil Bhagwandass, 35.
Police said that around 8.30 p.m. on Saturday he was riding his bicycle along Abuckle Trace, Caroni, when a man walked up to him and fired several shots.
Bhagwandass was killed on the spot and police said they believe his death stemmed from an “old argument” with a friend over a quantity of cocaine. Bhagwandass was employed as a watchman.
The other murder was in Laventille.
Around 12.30 a.m. yesterday, officers from the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) responded to reports that several gunshots were heard in the Soogrim Trace, Laventille, area.
When they got to the scene they found the body of Brent Dickson, 33, with a gunshot wound to his head and chest.
He was found lying dead next to a community centre. Police said his murder was gang related as Dickson was described as being “well known to the police”.
The third victim was Noel Marcano , aged 55.
Police said that he may have been murdered around 1 a.m. yesterday near his place of work at Patraj Trace , off the Don Miguel Road Extension, El Socorro south.
Officers said that around 12.30 a.m. he was having an argument with two men when one of them pulled out a knife and stabbed Marcano twice to his chest, killing him almost instantly.
The men later went to the Barataria Police Station and claimed that they “found” Marcano dead in a guard booth located outside a warehouse in the area.
Detectives further questioned the two men during which they determined that one of the men stabbed Marcano.
